MTV's 'Real World' moving into West Loop

MTV's "The Real World" show, where seven strangers move into a building together and allow cameras to film the inevitable drama for all the world to see, wants to set up shop in the Randolph-Fulton area in the West Loop.

An affiliate of Van Nuys, California-based Bunim/Murray Productions is planning to film an edition of the long-running reality show at 1100 W. Randolph St., according to people familiar with the project.

"The Real World's" designs for the property is another marker of growing out-of-town interest in the fast-changing neighborhood, which has become a magnet for restaurant operators, real estate investors and tech firms, including Google Inc.

On June 20, the Bunim affiliate is scheduled to discuss its plans before the city's Zoning Board of Appeals, according to the panel's agenda for this month. The firm must obtain special permits to allow for “a seven-bed, temporary, group living residence” in the property, the agenda shows. A message left for an executive at Bunim, a unit of French production firm Banijay Group, was not immediately returned.

The production company said in an application to the city it plans to use the property for five months at most, shooting the show over a 12-week period.

Alterations it wants to make to the property, like a new paint job, lighting, security cameras and greenery, “would be compatible with the character of the neighborhood — we want this building to embody Chicago,” the application says.

The Bunim affiliate also wants to build shower stalls in the property and a kitchen, the application shows. Security guards will be present 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The company has held casting calls in Chicago to find people willing to star in the forthcoming show, according to news reports. MTV broadcasts "The Real World."

In 2001, a season of "The Real World" was filmed in Wicker Park, with the building at 1934 W. North Ave. serving as the cast's home base.

The production drew protesters to the building, one of whom yelled at show participants that the crowd wanted to “to liberate you from the agents of unreality,” according to a Chicago Reader story.

For its latest Chicago show, "The Real World" will occupy a property owned by a venture of veteran New York retail broker David Firestein, who declined to comment.

Greg Kirsch, executive managing director in the local office of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank who's handling leasing at the property, didn't respond to a phone call.